The Last Song
by RicardianScholar Clark-Weasley
Summary: sequel to Pandora's Box. the Wolf finally regenerates into River Song. her journey that starts with university, goes through prison and ends in the Library where it starts all over again with the Doctor.


**Author's Note: this is the final oneshot of this series. Thank you everyone who has been following them and please review for the last time. **

It wasn't very surprising that she didn't stay with him for long.

After all the Wolf was not Rose Tyler anymore, no matter how much the Doctor liked to think so, she was older, more independent and less forgiving. Not to mention more experienced and smarter than she was at nineteen. Her new personality had conflicted with his several times a week even with companions there to be a buffer zone. Without Amy and Rory there (having chosen to settle down when Amy found out she was pregnant) the Wolf had to physically restrain herself before she killed the Doctor.

So they decided to part.

It wasn't bad; after all they both knew it would be inevitable for them to meet up again. All of time and space wasn't that big when you had such long life spans. Also she had the TARDIS' number and could phone him any time she wished.

At first it went wrong. They kept meeting each other at the wrong times and she would accidently spoil something about the future. That was when the diary came in, he brought it for her personally after having it custom made. Apart from the little photos she had from before, that diary was the only thing that she kept with her at all times.

However when they did meet up and she stayed with him for a while on the rare occasions she was still close to killing him. He drove her crazy with his self-righteousness and being ever so arrogant about his skills. She loved to take him down a peg or two and when she did he ended up sulking in a corner. She knew she drove him crazy with her wild death defying actions and her constant flirting that always had him flustered. That and she had an unnerving confidence in his abilities to rescue her no matter what.

The Doctor was never confident in himself. Well he was but he wasn't when it came to whether or not he did the right thing or if he'd ever get there in time. It scared him that despite everything she still trusted him more than anything else. So after a stupid stunt he would lecture her constantly while she waved if off, knowing that the next time she did something like that he would be there for her.

She made her own companions on her own. Met up with Jack a few times and saved the universe before going to a bar for a drink and catch up. Jack didn't even have to guess who she was, he just knew. Probably because she was the one who turned him immortal. She met Jenny before the Doctor even knew she was alive. They bonded and got on very well much to the Doctor's horror. It didn't matter anymore whether the Doctor was right beside her or on the other side of the universe, she was happy with the life she was leading and could live without him.

They regenerated. Twice for him, once he was with her and she regenerated the same time. Their arrogance and dangerous antics in saving the universe bit them back. She regenerated a few times herself. Not many, she managed to keep her forms longer than the Doctor did.

Her last form before she became River Song was her ninth. Ironic really. She disliked that form; she looked too much like Rose Tyler – blonde hair, slim build and dark eyes with pouty lips and high cheekbones. She accused the Doctor purposely influenced her regeneration and he didn't quite deny it.

She doesn't quite remember her last moments in that particular body. There was an explosion of some sort and everything around her was fuzzy as she clung onto life desperately. The Doctor was carrying her, she knew that much and then everything went so bright and hot like always and there she was.

River Song.

And then, the final song began to play.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

She had chosen to go to university because she wanted solid evidence that she was a genius. That and since she had no means of time travel anymore she might has well waste some time getting a proper education. She had chosen archaeology because it would give her opportunities to run into the Doctor. Also archaeologist would be able to travel, even if it wasn't time travel it was better than being domestic.

The Doctor would visit her every so often and she usually ended up with one less professor or a school building blown up. Why aliens keep choosing her university to do evil things she would never know. Maybe she just attracted them like she did with trouble.

To her amusement and happiness, the Doctor would go to parties with her or have dinner or just lay there on the grass and enjoy the moment. It allowed her to see him half relaxed and to learn something that she never knew about him before.

"I still don't get why you want to be an archaeologist" he said one afternoon as they laid there looking up at the sky. Trying to make shapes out of the clouds. "You used to be a time traveller; you saw how things used to be so why bother trying to dig things up like everyone else?"

"I told you before. It interests me. Also it would mean I could travel to other planets and different civilisations. I could see things that I've never seen before"

"I could take you to different planets and civilisations. Even better I could take you to their past, present and future if you so desired to"

"I fear if I lived with you too long I might strangle you" she said truthfully. "You are arrogant, overconfident, always right, a smartarse and terribly smug one at that, and a rather flirtatious one. You're almost as bad as Jack these days"

"Liar" he said defensively. "You're no better than me you know"

"I know" She then kissed him before rolling over and sitting up. He laid there looking at her with a mix of fondness and confusion. She always seemed to confuse him. "Now I got a class to go to. See you when I see you, yeah?"

"Yeah"

When she graduated he was the first to congratulate her. With a bouquet of red roses, a reminder of who she used to be and not a romantic gesture as many gushing young classmates believed to be. She travelled with him for a while. Picked up a companion and stayed to see how this new person would deal with the situation. Left when the companion did and started working on her post-graduate degree. She then did her Masters and considered a PhD when the Doctor returned for help for another end of universe fiasco.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

When the Doctor regenerated for the final time there was an air of coldness and darkness around him. He was young and beautiful but his eyes were made of hard chips of stone that were colder than ice. His lips rarely formed a smile but constantly smirked or sneered. His touch wasn't gentle and his companions weren't the kindest of people. She half expected to see a Dalek as his next companion.

When he did his save the world routine it was darker and grimmer than before. Even innocent people died at his hands without him even shedding a tear. He didn't feel guilty or scared anymore. His darker self had finally consumed him.

"I don't know what's wrong with him. He's meaner and more solider like than ever. He reminds me of General Cobb and that scares me" Jenny had once told her. "Please River, help him"

She tried to help him. But he brushed off any attempt of companionship whether it was emotional, mental or physical. She tried to stop him many times and ended up with a black eye. The first and only time he had hit her. This was not her Doctor and probably never will be again.

She followed him as much as she could. Stayed in the TARDIS for as long as she could without him kicking her out again. But nothing she did could get through this new icy exterior. It was as if he had a complete personality change as well as body. Even using his true name had little effect. He was completely and utterly insane in her eyes.

One day she was too late to stop him.

His hands were covered in blood as a strange insect species who were trying to defend their territory from the humans laid dead before him.

He smirked.

And a little more of her heart broke.

"What have you done?" she whispered horrified. "Oh god, what have you done?"

"I've stopped the bad guys. Isn't that what I do? Stop bad guys and save people, though I honestly don't understand why these days"

"You don't kill innocent people" she whispered.

"You do"

She shook her head. "I only kill the guilty. Slave traders and aliens like the Daleks and Cybermen" she pulled out her laser gun. "And now it seems you too"

He laughed. A cold empty laugh. "You wouldn't dare. You love me remember?"

She trembled. "I'm sorry" she whispered. "But this isn't you"

And she then pulled the trigger.

The moment he crumpled to the floor she had dropped the weapon. She fell to her own knees and trembled as she slowly crawled her way towards him. She couldn't walk properly and she feared her own knees would give in completely soon. Her shaky hand reached out and cupped his face, his eyes were on her but they were no longer cold. They were warm for the very first time in a long time. Her Doctor.

"I'm sorry" she cried, "I'm so, so, so sorry"

"That's my line" he whispered, a half smile on his face. "Please don't cry"

She couldn't stop though. Tears were running down her face and she could barely see him as her sight got blurrier. He turned his face and kissed the palm of her hand.

"Rose" he whispered. "My Rose"

"My..." and she whispered his true name. So musical and brilliant and powerful.

He then died.

She sat there motionless apart from the trembling and crying. Eventually the authorities came and cleaned up the mess. They took her to warm room and pressed a warm drink in her hand before questioning her. She answered each question with a monotone whisper. They were horrified at the sight of her and ran off to make some phone calls.

The next morning the Judoon arrested her for the murder of the Doctor.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

"Professor River Song, I hereby find you guilty of the murder of the Doctor. You will be sentenced with a lifetime of imprisonment only to be released for community service for the church"

Those words echoed in her ears for a long time.

She spent awhile laying there remembering everything and trying to keep the nightmares away. She remembered when she first met him, when he first regenerated, the first time they were separated, his Human self, their marriage and children, when she returned to him after all that hell. She closed her eyes and wished for the first time in a long time, for Amy Pond and her boy wonder to talk to. She had missed them both and she knew eventually she'll meet them again.

Eventually she began to do other things. She read, worked, wrote papers and had little tools smuggled into her by old acquaintances. She prepared for a break out whenever the Doctor needed her to. She was going to be cheerful and mysterious and flirtatious. As if she never pulled a trigger on him at all.

The first time she broke out it was for Doctor Number twelve and another Sontaran situation. Jack joined in at one point and they all had drinks together before the prison guards took her back.

The second time was for the Pandorica. All those memories coming back. Her head ached and she hurt all over knowing how close she was and yet how far she was to get where she is now. She carried on running for a very long time. She met various Doctors, even older ones from before he met Rose Tyler. Not that they actually interacted. She stepped back and watched him with his companions.

She was finally caught and for decades she spent the time in a higher secured prison. The church had attempted to convert her. She just played nice and befriended them while still debating philosophy. She had so many opinions from so many societies and eras she had seen.

She was then released for her first community service gig.

The stone angels and once again Amy Pond.

She felt her hearts drop to her stomach when Amy was slowly going insane because of the Weeping Angels. She wanted to protect this little girl from everything because she knew how special Amy was in her own right let alone how much she still loved her. The crack was a scary reminder and she probably acted more harsh than normal causing the Doctor to dislike a part of her.

And then Amelia appeared. Upset and scared Amelia had given River one of the best shows she had in a long time. She followed the girl and comforted her. Promised her that the Wolf was safe and things will be sorted out. She reassured Amelia about how brilliant she was causing the girl to smile.

She then swapped back with Amy and everything went back to normal. Or as normal as it can be with the Doctor and Amy Pond.

The prison guards were waiting for her when she came to the surface. She was handcuffed in front of the Doctor and she felt a spark of burning shame inside of her. She hated this. Hated them. Hated herself.

The Doctor asked her about the man she murdered. Who was she and all the usual questions. So she hinted about the Pandorica, the fairy tale that was so true and so very real. And she had also told him the truth about the man she killed. Because no matter what he had done moments before he was...

"Yes. He was a very good man"

The pointed look she had given him was probably received and then mentally blocked. Even now after everything he's been through he was still scared of death. Scared of many things really.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

Eventually she did get out of prison.

It was a long struggle and she had committed an unforgivable offence. But the Shadow Proclamation had finally released her on her 'good behaviour' it had only taken three centuries but who was counting? Immediately she had gone back into archaeology and worked for her PhD. She became a doctor just like the Doctor said she would.

She began to recruit a trustworthy team to follow her in the most dangerous expeditions. She had found it a lot like finding good companions. Fun, enjoyable half the time and difficult to find someone she could trust and love so quickly.

Proper Dave and Other Dave were comical dual act. Proper Dave came first and Other Dave came last but they acted like twins separated at birth most of the time. They were so similar that River wondered if she accidentally got a father and son from different time zone. Anita was a brilliant find. She was like River only less experienced with life and less old. The four of them made a fantastic team and River got herself well known enough for Mr Lux to pay lots of money for her.

She was eager to search this Library. The Doctor was a fan boy when it came to books and she would relish the experience in his honour. She might even get to see him, in fact she planned to invite him along if she could get a signal on his psychic paper. This was an experience that the Doctor can't give up.

It was her last night on this planet. It was a calm and country-like planet with large grassy hills and friendly people. She was packing her stuff before heading to the spaceport. Her last night in this planet and probably her final one as she had no future plans to come back. It was too quiet for liking.

A knock on the door interrupted her packing.

Instead of one of her teammates asking her out for a drink or Mr Lux (or his sweet assistant) reminding her of some legal work it was the Doctor.

The tenth Doctor.

Warm brown eyes and flopping brown hair in his blue suit that would soon be given to her husband. She noticed he looked tired and sadder, his hair had been cut since the last time she seen it and he was carrying a small little carrier bag in one hand and a picnic basket in another.

"Hello!" he said trying to sound cheerful. "I thought we could go to the orchestra, they're playing a wonderful symphony and we could enjoy a picnic"

"That would be wonderful" she said trying to smile. She couldn't quite bring herself to be excited. She's never been with this Doctor. Not since the car crash and it was rather unnerving. "Just let me get a jacket"

The music was fantastic and the food was rather good to. The Doctor sat there talking about everything while giving nothing away. As usual. He talked about Donna but never said anything about her memory. He talked about Martha but not that year with the Master. He talked about Rose and Jack and Sarah Jane but never about how they left or what happened to them in the end. he told her about his adventures, a Christmas with a man who thought he was him, Easter trying to save a bus of people including a rich thief and a few other adventures along the way.

Eventually the talk died down and he presented her with the little carrier bag. "A farewell/good luck present you could call it" he said.

"Thank you" she peered into the bag and let a little laugh out as she pulled out a modified sonic screwdriver. "This is brilliant!"

Her last sonic/laser screwdriver got smashed while saving Earth from another invasion. The Doctor refused to let her in his lab and she was forced to start keeping an eye out for weapons much to his disgust. It caused one of their more famous fights which led her to leave him the first time round.

"I had a feeling you'll be needing it" the Doctor said mysteriously.

"I take it you and me will be doing a lot of running soon" she asked grinning.

"Oh, spoilers River!"

She laughed and then kissed him. To her surprise he kissed her back, she didn't think he would this early on but he did. There was something soft and sad about the kiss but she ignored it in favour of being grateful of being close to him.

The next day she left to start her journey to the Library.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

He was there with Donna Noble and had no idea who she was.

It kind of hurt that. For centuries and centuries he had known her in some sort of form. Whether she was Rose, the Wolf or River. He knew her and recognised her as someone. And now he was staring at her with a blank expression asking her who was she. He hasn't done anything they have done before. He doesn't even know she's returning as Rose Tyler soon. She trusted him with everything and he couldn't trust her because he didn't know her yet.

So she told him her best kept secret. The secret she had never told anyone. His name. She whispered it into his ear and he trusted her immediately because he wouldn't simply give his name away to just anybody.

She kept a blank face on throughout this adventure. Her team had been killed, eaten away as if they're were chicken on a bone. Donna had disappeared somewhere and the shadows were getting more and more persistent in eating them. She refused to show any weakness to the Doctor though. He hasn't seen her like this before and she'd rather make a good – if confusing – impression on him.

But then they found out about Charlotte and what happened to all the people who once went to the Library. The only way to save them all was to use the Doctor's mind and he could burn out and die. The universe still needed the Doctor. He had planets and all of time and space to save. He had companions to meet, a clone to make and her. He has a whole future of her waiting ahead of him.

So she knocked him out and handcuffed him.

She took his place.

And inside she was bitterly laughing at the irony of everything. She killed him and now she was going to die to save him. She should have known it would always be him. It usually was. Had been since she was nineteen and he took her had and told her to run.

He was begging her not to do this but she had to. This was what she was meant to do so he could live on.

Her mind reached out for his and she whispered her love, his name and how much he meant to her before closing that link. The link they rarely ever used. And then a bright light came and her body burned.

Although she had her awareness downloaded on a computer. Her memories and appearance and personality. It wasn't really her.

River Song was dead.

The last song stopped.

DWDWDWDWDWDWDWDW

The Villain was ready to plead for his life. He had heard of this girl, the daughter of the great Doctor and didn't wish to be destroyed like the many people before him.

But when he looked up the blonde girl was crying.

"Wha...what's wrong?" he asked.

She shook her head and ran off. Leaving him behind.

Down on Earth, a red haired woman struggling to keep her toddler in his cot froze as tears ran down her cheeks. The toddler reached up and touched them. "Mummy?" he said looking confused.

"Rory!" Amy screamed clinging tightly to her son. "Something...Something has happened!" Rory ran in and the moment he saw Amy cry he knew. Instead of saying anything he simply held her as she cried.

In a clean living room an elderly man comforted his shaking granddaughter as she cried. "I don't know why...i don't know why I'm so sad" she sniffled. "Granddad..."

In another universe a different Donna altogether wakes up crying. Her twin brother phones her and he too is in tears. Their famous actor Michael got applauded by critics for his realistic crying scene and then immediately criticised for calling out Mum instead of Juliet. His younger brother met him the next day with tears down his cheeks and across the world people sat in shock as the gold medal winner Mary Jane Noble stood there frozen in an elegant position on ice, tears running down her cheeks.

In the future and yet in the past. A pale skinned girl with dark eyes and hair dropped her mug and it shattered across the floor.

"Susan?"

"It's...it's all over" she whispered horrified.

In the very far future and yet in the Doctor's past laid a giant face dying. For his whole life he could hear a song playing in his mind. A soft sad and beautiful song. And it finally ended. His took his last breath and whispered the truth to the Doctor. The truth that the Doctor never really understood.

"You. Are. Not. Alone"

He fell away into the eternal darkness thanking god that it was all over.

And slowly. Ever so slowly without that one last song playing, the universe began to crumble.


End file.
